


Found Lacking

by wicked3659



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-14
Updated: 2014-09-14
Packaged: 2018-02-17 09:18:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2304596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wicked3659/pseuds/wicked3659
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chromedome messes up date night and tries to make things right.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Found Lacking

**Author's Note:**

> Written for tf reverse big bang on live journal. 
> 
> Based on the wonderful art at the link below by specspectacle.
> 
> http://specspectacle.tumblr.com/post/97484921672/and-the-third-picture-reverse-bang-picture-date

“Are you really going to keep sitting in here sulking?” 

“What is it to you?” 

“Well, you’re sorta driving away my regulars, shift your aft to a table so I can get some credits,” Swerve huffed in mild annoyance. “Anyone would think somebot has died,” he muttered as he shooed Chromedome away from the bar. 

Grunting non-committally, Chromedome shifted anyway, taking the bottle of high grade with him. It wasn’t like there was much point in going back to his quarters. Rewind wasn’t going to be there. He started when the chair opposite was pulled away and suddenly filled by the purple frame of Cyclonus. “What the frag do you want?” Chromedome grumbled, visor dimming. 

“Peace and quiet,” the mech’s deep voice stated evenly. 

Pulling a face, not really sure what this had to do with him, Chromedome met Cyclonus’s steady gaze with an incredulous ‘huh?’

Venting a soft sigh, Cyclonus clasped his hands together, resting them on the table. “Due to whatever inane and undoubtedly idiotic thing you have done or said to your better half, he is now currently venting his frustrations to Tailgate,” his optics dimmed, and his mouth pulled into a thin line. “Animatedly.”

Chromedome straightened in his seat, looking both irritated and sheepish, impressive given the visor and mouthplate. “I didn’t make him do that. He went there all by himself,” he protested hotly, flinching slightly from the sharp glare the former ‘con threw at him. 

“Whether directly or indirectly, he is intruding in my space and you are the reason,” Cyclonus pointed out tersely. 

“So… not much I can do…” he trailed off, ducking his gaze when Cyclonus shifted in his seat. It seemed threatening, Chromedome wasn’t taking chances. 

“I am not a relationship counsellor. If you want to know how to stop being an immeasurable aft, make an appointment with Rung, otherwise, apologise. Profusely.”

“You’re one to fraggin’ talk,” Chromedome muttered sullenly. “Anyway, he’s not talking to me, I’d be better talking to the wall.”

“Then get creative,” Cyclonus commanded, a thinly veiled threat colouring his tone, “I don’t really care how you fix it. Just. Fix. It. Or I will,” the white-faced mech enunciated with a glower at him before getting up and leaving Chromedome alone with his high grade. 

“I’m going to presume, from what little I heard, that this has something to do with Tailgate suggesting his date idea to Rewind, who in turn suggested it to you, who rejected his proposal. Am I correct?”

Did everyone know about this now? Chromedome thought to himself with annoyance as Rung sat in Cyclonus’s empty seat without waiting for an invite. Shifting uncomfortably, giving the psychiatrist a half-sparked shrug, Chromedome rubbed the back of his neck. “Sort of?”

Canting his helm at the visored mech curiously, Rung leaned forward with interest. “Please explain.”

“Do I have to?” He whined, venting a loud sigh when Rung simply smiled and nodded. Lifting his shoulders with something akin to a shrug and a grimace, Chromedome wilted a little. “I went on his date thing and then um… I uh… said it was dumb,” he finished quickly, guilt rippling through him.

Raising an optic ridge and giving Chromedome a suspicious ‘I know you’re not telling me everything’ look, Rung hummed disbelievingly. “And the rest?” 

Visor flickering, Chromedome slumped down over his cube in defeat. “I probably said it a lot more than I needed to and kinda made fun of the whole thing, during the actual… um date…” 

“I see.”

“You see?”

“Hm, yes. It is unfortunate you did not realise the importance of this… date,” Rung explained simply.

“How was I supposed to know it meant so much to him?!” Chromedome protested, hating that the mech made him feel like a petulant youngling without even trying.

Giving him a knowing, sympathetic smile, Rung patted his arm. “By assuming that all quality time spent with you means that much to him,” he explained delicately. “Though I am currently having difficulty understanding why it doesn’t appear to mean as much to you,” he added with a hint of concern in his voice. “Are you having problems…” he leaned closer, his voice dropping to a whisper, “in the berth?”

“Yeah, question my interfacing capabilities, that helps,” Chromedome retorted sardonically. 

“I only ask because problems such as those often lead to defensiveness, attempts to make mockery of and a reluctance to spend quali--”

“--No! We’re not!” he exclaimed quickly when Rung started to respond. “What do I do?” 

Sighing softly, Rung sat back and eyed Chromedome thoughtfully. “You must try to speak with him.”

Frowning, Chromedome shook his helm. “But he won’t even listen to me, he said an apology isn’t enough,” he knew he was whining but at this point he didn’t care. He would much rather be snuggled up with the mech in question on their berth right now, rather than having this conversation with Rung of all mechs. 

“Then perhaps, Cyclonus’s suggestion, as aggressive and unhelpful as it was, is the appropriate way to respond?” the psychiatrist suggested. “I do unfortunately have another appointment right now, but please, feel free to make an appointment and we can discuss this further. Perhaps you and Rewind both will benefit, I do offer couples therapy,” he added helpfully. Patting Chromedome’s hand, he stood and gave him a friendly nod. “I’m sure you will figure it out, Chromedome, Rewind is with you for a reason after all, is he not?”

Staring forlornly at his cube, Chromedome sighed and didn’t bother replying to Rung’s gentle and somewhat patronising encouragement. Couples therapy, that sounded like something he would need to erase from his processor in order to keep some of his sanity. He frowned as he thought about Cyclonus’s suggestion, before suddenly sitting up straight, his visor brightening. “Get creative huh?” he muttered, the threads of an idea forming in his processor.

****

“What do you want?” the minibot glared up at the much taller mech, his hands on his hips. 

“Is Rewind here?” Chromedome asked, peering over the top of Tailgate. 

“Not any of your business,” the small mech retorted defensively.

Meeting Tailgate’s surprisingly fierce glare, Chromedome wilted and sighed. “Alright, just give him this will you?” he held out a datapad and audibly huffed his frustration when the minibot simply stubbornly stared at it with suspicion. “Frag, you can look at it too if you’re going to be so paranoid about it.” Chromedome thrust the datapad against Tailgate’s chest, forcing him to take hold of it, before turning on his heel and marching down the corridor. 

“Hey, Chromedome!” 

He turned, visor brightening with surprise, not expecting the minibot to be so close. “What?” he replied, none too amicably.

Tailgate strolled boldly up to the mech almost twice his size and swiftly kicked him in the shin plating. 

Chromedome, grimaced at the strangely hard kick which sent ripples of stabbing pain all the way up his leg. He curled his hands around it with a scowl. “Um… Ow…!?”

Folding his arms, Tailgate nodded triumphantly. “That is for being a big old idiot. You big stupid… Stupid,” he finished firmly, flouncing back to his room with an air of victory.

Rubbing his shin, Chromedome pouted sullenly. His creator had always warned him not to mess around with minibots.

*****

He fidgeted in his seat, constantly touching and retouching the table display while he waited. Swerve had wandered by a few times. The first couple of times he’d offered him an encouraging smirk and a thumbs up, the next few had been more along the lines of sympathetic nods and smiles and towards the end of the evening as Chromedome had become increasingly more belligerent, he’d avoided walking past altogether. 

“This better be good.”

Chromedome stood up so fast, he almost knocked his chair over. “Rewind, you’re here… you came… I didn’t think you were…”

The minibot shrugged but didn’t step closer. “Neither did I,” he glanced over at the table, visor flickering slightly at the display and energon goodies. 

“So I um… did some research, you know… into that thing you wanted to try,” Chromedome explained awkwardly, following Rewind’s gaze. 

“Date,” Rewind pointed out stiffly. “Yeah, so… got some more jokes to make?” 

Visor dimming, Chromedome shrank into himself a little. “I…ah no… I wanted to make it up to you… say I’m sorry but you said sorry wasn’t enough so I thought you might like an actual date…” he looked over the table with a frown. “It sucks I know but Swerve has prepared your favourite energon cocktail and I got the goodies made especially. They’re aged energon with a hint of sulphur, just the way you like them…” he trailed off meekly when Rewind didn’t respond immediately.

Looking between the carefully laid table and Chromedome, who was currently doing a great impression of a kicked turbo rabbit, Rewind’s spark melted a little. “You’re an aft you know that?” he replied, a hint of softness in his tone. 

Grimacing a little, Chromedome glanced up and gave the minibot a sheepish nod. “I know… the worst but… I really didn’t think it was such a big deal at the time…”

Stepping closer, Rewind peered up at his mate. “That’s your problem, ‘Domey, you don’t think,” he sighed softly. “What am I going to do with you, hm?”

“...accept my humble apology and come back to our quarters?” Chromedome answered hopefully. 

Rewind snorted a laugh. “You think it’s that easy, huh?” his visor flashed with mischief.

“I could beg if it would help?” mumbled the taller mech. 

Smirking behind his faceplate, Rewind pinned his mate with an intense gaze. “How about we save the begging for later?” he murmured with amusement.

Chromedome’s visor flickered at the tone and he felt heat ripple through him. He knew that tone. It promised a lot more than just getting him to beg. 

“For frag’s sake! Are you going to sit down or spend the night staring into each other’s optics?” Swerve demanded, no real animosity in his voice, as he gave them a mildly bemused glare. “These drinks that I slaved over, aren’t going to drink themselves you know,” he added, elbowing between them to place the tray with the cocktails on the table. “There, enjoy your date. Let me remind you there’s no facin’ in my bar,” he declared, smirking as he left them alone.

Sitting down, Chromedome watched Rewind intently as he sampled the cocktail and hummed appreciatively. “You like it?”

“I do, it has just the right amount of bitterness,” Rewind’s visor glowed warmly at Chromedome, whose field practically vibrated with relief and satisfaction at being able to please him. It was reactions like that, that reminded Rewind just how much younger than he Chromedome was and his attempts to make things right were quite adorable, given that they were entirely outside his comfort zone. He picked up a goodie and retracted his faceplate to pop it into his mouth. “These are good!” he exclaimed, visor brightening in surprise. “How many credits or rations did you use to get Swerve to make them?”

Chromedome shrugged, propping his helm up in his hand as he gazed at Rewind with nothing less than adoration. “Doesn’t matter. You’re worth it,” he replied easily. 

Rewind ducked his helm with a coy smile. He may have been the older mech but at times Chromedome made him feel a million vorns younger. It was a very welcome feeling. Leaning bodily across the table, he grabbed the larger mech’s collar fairing and tugged him close. Smiling he tapped the faceplate and Chromedome obliged his silent request. Shaking his helm he chuckled. “You’re an idiot,” he quipped, warmth and affection in his voice. 

“Your idiot,” Chromedome breathed softly as Rewind tugged him into a tender kiss. 

Rewind laughed into the kiss and broke it to whisper possessively over Chromedome’s exposed lip plates. “Mine.” 

“Always,” Chromedome smiled gently, his spark pulsing hard from the kiss. Shifting he pulled Rewind into his lap, causing the minibot to squeak and laugh as he wrapped his arms about him and began to feed him the energon goodies. 

On second thought, Chromedome mused, he could probably get used to this date night thing. It definitely had its perks.


End file.
